Featured Artist: J Woogie

*Notice*: Okay so I’ve abandoned the whole “Music Monday’s w/Christian ReciKnows” so as to not restrict myself and have a deadline for both myself and the artists that are featured. Moving forward, I will now have a “Featured Artists” section and Monday’s will now be days where I, personally, curate a playlist of music. Non-genre specific 😉

Alright so, today for my featured artist it is quite possibly my brother from another mother Joe aka “J Woogie”.

I met Joe at my first Lightning in a Bottle in last year. Funny enough, I’m pretty sure he went to high school with my good friend Joey. As someone who admires fashion sense & style, I can still remember the exact moment I met Joe at LiB haha. He strolled into the campsite we were both connected with called “The Vibe Tribe” dressed in this dope a** shawl type outfit with a gold medallion/necklace that was such an attention-grabber. Not so long after we met, I began referring to him as “Egyptian Joe”. The name stuck and everyone enjoyed it.. at least I think..

From that point forward we’ve been super tight and always continue to share underground house/tech tracks. I’ve never not had a bad time with him,… the guy knows how to have a damn good time.

In general, what does music do for you?

Music is the reason I can dig for new tracks, practice mixing or produce until 2am then wake up at 7am ready for the day! Music has been there for the worst and best times of my life. Even certain albums I can’t listen to because they bring back some heartbreak! That is powerful! Music is such a trip when you think about it. All I know is that its my first love and she has kept me alive through thick and thin and I’m excited to be on the path create my own!

So what’s your story? Where are you from? What do you do in your day-to-day life?

Born and raised in Santa Ana, California and I currently work as a research scientist to use Human Neural Stem Cells for Spinal Cord Injury at UCI. I go to A LOT of music festivals and I LOVE the fashion! My favorite part is to dress up in outrageous and nifty outfits along with my Tiffany blue wig! I listen to a lot of comedy and self-development podcasts too, my favorites are Congratulations with Chris D’Elia and the Aubrey Marcus Podcast. You have to have a balance of silly and serious!

How’d you decide on DJ and/or Producing? Why?

My background in music is 6 years of trombone and during high school I was heavy into hip-hop and would always find new artists or mixtapes and burn them on CDs for my friends. I got into dubstep/trap and electronic music in general then I went to EDC when I was 17. Going to more events I kept digging for new music and would have a lot that the DJs were playing and I had a good ear, so I thought why not try to learn! So I used Traktor for 4 years then this past year got well acquainted with CDJs. After making connections through the festival circuit and I started to link up with Vibe Tribe through Chefboyrbeatz in Orange County and met Bryan Orozco (huge shoutout) who inevitably helped me network to be a resident DJ with the Modern Disco Ambassadors (MDA). A second collective I met through their desert event is the Jackson Collective. A powerful up and coming group with not only DJ talent but production prowess and event coordination. This led me to the realization that production is my next step AND I AM FINALLY TAKING ACTION and it feels great! It will be a long road but with all my producer/DJ friends we will bring each other up!

How’d you form the name “ J Woogie”?

My personal DJ name is J Woogie which was inspired by the Woogie stage at Lightning in a Bottle since I love house, tech house and techno. My duo name with Mimi Moss is called Diamond Heist. We formed it last minute for an opening spot main stage at Avalon Hollywood, it was gender neutral and has that G-house/Bass house dirty vibe that we were going for.

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One of the most difficult aspects about doing this scene? (What’s the thing you dislike or what’s the most frustrating thing?)

The most frustrating thing is there is a saturation of DJs in the local area so at first it can be very daunting! Then when you get a gig, you have to not only be a DJ but a promoter as well! At the end of the day its a business and you have to do things you don’t necessarily want to do. But I learned you have to get people to want to go to your shows and the answer to that is production, which will also be frustrating since I have just begun but at least I am excited and having fun with it!

Do you feel like nowadays you can’t experience the music the same as you did when you were just a listener?

As a DJ, I would listen to a build up and then sing my own drop or sing a vocal that I think would go well with the current song. My friends would get annoyed but sometimes they would understand. However doing this would allow to be creative and write down mash ups or transitions for songs that I could use. I would also Shazam a lot of songs at festivals so I can have them for my own arsenal. Now that I want to produce more, Im going to try and listen to isolated sounds and melodies to give me ideas for my own music. Nevertheless, I still enjoy the shows and dance my ass off!

Favorite Artist or Favorite Track right now? (Or one of your favorite artists?

Favorite artist right now would have to be Chris Lake. He has such great production style and his automation is crazy good! His track “Dance With Me” with Walker & Royce is my go to right now!

Any other upcoming Artists and/or new Tracks we should know?

An artist thats making “WAVES” is Ocean Roulette. He just had an EP release on Psycho Disco called Froze Up / Wicked

I also love his recent remix of Disclosure’s Ultimatum. Great use of the vocals and has a great bouncy vibe! x

Any mixes/tracks of yours we should check out?

(note: I am actually SUPER bummed I was unable to attend Matt’s birthday so s/o Matt Sherman right now… I don’t know anyone else who loves a good beer more than him haha)

Do you have any cool shows or prospects in the future?

Opening up at La Cave in Costa Mesa for Nick Monaco 7/18

Also a major one I will be playing at the Sagauro in Palm Spring 7/28! Very excited to play where the notorious Splash House is held!

Anything more to add?

“I guess the best thing to say is nothing. Just take action, be humble. That speaks volumes” – J Woogie

Stay tuned with J Woogie and his other side side project Diamond Heist to see where he/they go